Tucuxi: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the tucuxi lives – recorded in 4 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Sotalia fluviatilis
Group	Whales & dolphins
Status	Endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	4 countries
Continents	South America
Class	Mammal
Order	Artiodactyla
Family	Delphinidae

Where does the tucuxi live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the tucuxi in 4 countries and territories across South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Soure, Brazil.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the tucuxi endangered?

The tucuxi’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the tucuxi?

The tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) is a mammal in the order Artiodactyla and the family Delphinidae, genus Sotalia. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the tucuxi

The tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), alternatively known in Peru bufeo gris or bufeo negro, is a species of freshwater dolphin found in the rivers of the Amazon basin. The word tucuxi is derived from the Tupi language word tuchuchi-ana, and has now been adopted as the species' common name. Despite being found in geographic locations similar to those of 'true' river dolphins such as the boto, the tucuxi is not closely related to them genetically. Instead, it is classed in the oceanic dolphin family, Delphinidae.

Physically, the species resembles the bottlenose dolphins, but differs sufficiently to be placed in a separate genus, Sotalia. The Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), a related dolphin present in coastal and estuarine environments and formerly grouped together with the tucuxi, have recently been recognized as a distinct species.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Tucuxi (revision 1363044544), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q935680 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).